Finding Truth Behind Backs and Through Grapevines: On the Epistemology and Ethics of Gossip and Rumor

Abstract

Stroll through any office party, social gathering, or school cafeteria, and you are likely to hear people engaging in what you would quickly and accurately label “gossip,” perhaps by noticing that someone who is not present is being discussed in a way that you imagine the person who is the subject of the discussion wouldn’t appreciate. You will often hear, in similar contexts, rumors being spread using a standard, “I heard that…” as a kind of disclaimer regarding the truth of the statement that was heard. Gossip has a “behind the back” quality that other types of conversation do not. A rumor, on the other hand, isn’t itself an activity, but a claim that gets passed from person to person with no one taking responsibility for the truth of the claim. “I heard that...” or even, “I’m not certain about this, but I heard…” are often said before someone transmits a rumor to another person. Taking something passed “through the grapevine” of multiple speakers as true has well-known perils.

This piece discusses the natures of rumor and gossip, how they function, and what their consequences are. Two main concerns are (a) the extent to which we have the epistemic justification to believe rumors and gossip, and (b) the ethical implications of spreading rumors and engaging in gossip. I’ll argue that, with respect to epistemological justification, gossip is on better footing than rumor. One of the reasons for this is that gossip often functions as a way of spreading truths that the subject of the gossip would not want spread. Rumors, on the other hand, are prefaced with a disclaimer that indicates that the claim being spread is not first-hand information, thus making its truth inherently questionable. Lastly, with respect to their ethical implications, I’ll argue that the “behind the back” quality of gossip makes it inherently unethical, but that spreading rumors is sometimes ethically justified, or even required, as when one hears of a dangerous situation and warns others “just in case.”